LEXINGTON, Ky. — Third in a series.
The Name, Image and Likeness era of athletics appears here to stay, and it's even having an impact at the high school level.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) regulates sports at 289 member schools across the state. Over 100,000 kids at those schools participate in sports.
At one point, one of those kids was basketball player and college prospect Precious Sam.
During the 2023-2024 basketball season, the 7-footer played in varsity games at Ballard High School and then at Eastern High School. But how Sam, an international student from Ghana, Africa, was able to enroll at either of the two schools is somewhat of a mystery.
Only Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certified schools, through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, are allowed to enroll students on F1 student visas. No schools within the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) system are SEVP-certified.
FOCUS asked JCPS how Sam was still able to enroll.
Carolyn Callahan, JCPS Chief of Communications and Community Relations Officer, responded via email.
"We do not release student information without parent/guardian permission. JCPS does not inquire about the immigration status of students as it is against federal law for public schools to do so."
While that is true, it doesn't explain how Sam was able to play basketball within JCPS.
"The fact you can't ask -- you can't for enrollment -- but you certainly can and are expected to ask for participation and a privilege, which athletics is," KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett said.
On top of that, under KHSAA rules, students who play a varsity sport cannot transfer to another school's varsity program without sitting out a year.
Sam not only transferred between varsity basketball programs at Ballard and Eastern, he also transferred and played for both schools in the same season.
The KHSAA requires programs to fill out a transfer form and a waiver can be granted.
However in Sam's case, Tackett confirmed that "[the KHSAA] have not been asked to make a ruling on this student."
FOCUS made initial contact with Eastern High School's athletic director, Joe Scheper, to help track down retired basketball coach David Henley. Scheper later stopped responding to our emails.
Sam is now developing his basketball skills as a sophomore at AZ Compass Prep School near Pheonix, Arizona.
There, according to his and the school's Instagram accounts, Florida State, Missouri, and Arizona State have already extended scholarship offers to Sam.
Sending him out to Arizona was Brandon Bender, who is currently Sam's legal guardian. That guardianship is being challenged in family court in Louisville.
A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday on the matter.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Pat Forde has had his finger on the pulse of the shifting landscape for years.
"There has been a great influx of talented [international] players who see the opportunities for them in the United States, and then opportunistic middlemen in the U.S. and Canada want to bring players over, get them situated, and control their path and development towards a potential professional future," Forde said.
Bender has a checkered past.
He was a standout at Ballard and played basketball at the University of Louisville, but got into trouble on the team and left after his freshman year.
Later, trouble followed Bender and FOCUS found he pleaded guilty to credit card fraud in Louisville in 2007. In 2018, he was found liable for fraud in California.
Bender was ordered to pay $180,600 in damages after falsely claiming to be current NBA superstar Jaylen Brown's representative to a talent management agency and receiving a $45,000 advance.
Bender has also been named in past sports news articles about "street agents." They are middlemen involved in the questionable recruiting of young talent.
"We have heard things about Brandon and other people in that AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) circle, but we've never had a situation where we had documentation enough to have a finding," Tackett said.
Tackett, however, admits the KHSAA is virtually powerless to regulate street agents because, as he said, they are not "coaches or players, and their families."
"One of the penalties we can levy is for someone to disassociate with somebody, and we've had to do that a couple of times."
Tackett added, "Wherever there's people doing it the right way, there's somebody going to try to get in the back door. I think [street agents] are definitely here. I think there's probably more trafficking than we could police."
With the onset and growth of NIL, even athletes at the high school level are capitalizing on the opportunity. That means more agents are out there scouting young players, trying to latch onto them, and then hoping to later cash in on various finder's fees.
"There was a small fire, and NIL throws gasoline on it," Tackett said. "When something doesn't go well for that kid, he's dropped like a hot potato."
What Brandon Bender's game plan is for Precious Sam, if there is one, remains to be seen.
Multiple phone calls and text messages to Bender have not been returned.
What is clear is that basketball and Sam's future are woven together, and it's all playing out 7,000 miles away from home.
